.  > 


"iW.  State  Libr 


; 


LETTEE,APRI7,9! 


ADDRESSED  TO  THOSE  CAPITALISTS  OF  BOSTON  MHO  ARE  INVITED   TO  TAKE 
STOCK  m  PURCHASING  AND  REVIVING 


THE  PORTSMOUTH  AND  ROANOKE  RAILROAD 

IN    VIRGINIA, 


j       I 


NOW    CALLED 


THE  SEA-BOARD  AND  ROANOKE  RAILROAD, 
Showing  the  Tree  Yalne  of  that  Improvement. 


BY   A   VIRGINIAN 


BOSTON: 

PRINTED  BY  SAMUEL  N.  DICKINSON. 

1847. 


LETTER, 


ADDRESSED  TO  THOSE  CAPITALISTS  OF  BOSTON  WHO  ARE  INVITED   TO  TAKE 
STOCK  IN  PURCHASING  AND  REVIVING 


THE  PORTSMOUTH  AND  ROANOKE  RAILROAD, 

IN    VIRGINIA, 


NOW   CALLED 


THE  SEA-BOARD  AND  ROANOKE  RAILROAD, 
Showing  the  True  Value  of  that  Improvement. 


BY   A   VIRGINIAN. 


BOSTON: 

PRINTED  BY  SAMUEL  N.  DICKINSON. 

1847. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2012  with  funding  from 

University  of  North  Carolina  at  Chapel  Hill 


http://www.archive.org/details/letteraddressedtOOvirg 


LETTER,  ETC. 


Petersburg,  Virginia,  July  7th,  1847. 
To  the  Editor  of  the  Boston  Post :  — 

Sir,  —  The  following  letter  was  originally  commenced  with 
the  intention  of  asking  you  to  publish  it,  as  it  relates  to  a  matter 
of  some  interest  to  many  of  your  readers  ;  but,  as  I  progressed,  I 
found  it  impossible  to  condense  it  sufficiently  for  the  columns  of 
a  newspaper.  I  have  therefore  thrown  it  in  this  form,  and  send 
you  a  copy,  with  the  request  that  you  will  do  me  the  favor  to 
call  the  attention  of  your  readers  to  it. 

It  is  currently  reported,  in  this  part  of  the  country,  that  some 
of  the  capitalists  of  your  city  have  purchased,  or  are  about  to 
purchase  and  revive  the  Portsmouth  and  Roanoke  railroad. 
Now,  I  for  one  can  scarcely  credit  this  report;  for  I  do  not 
think  your  folks  are  quite  so  verdant  as  to  come  all  the  way 
here  to  invest  their  money  in  an  improvement,  in  which  two 
large  communities,  like  Norfolk  and  Portsmouth,  and  I  may  add 
a  considerable  part  of  North  Carolina,  although  the  most,  inter- 
ested, have  so  little  confidence  that  they  risk  little  or  nothing. 

But  the  report  is  so  generally  believed,  that  it  may  have 
some  foundation.  Your  monied  men  may  have  had  fine 
representations  made  to  them  of  the  business  that  could  be 
done  on  this  railroad  ;  and  it  is  probable  they  have  had  promises 


held  out  to  them  of  advantageous  connections  with  the  lines 
north  and  south  of  it,  for  the  purpose  of  carrying  passengers. 

These  things,  and  the  abundance  of  capital  at  their  com- 
mand, added  to  the  confidence  which  the  successful  operation  of 
nearly  all  the  railroads  in  New  England  is  calculated  to  inspire, 
may  have  induced  some  of  your  good  people  to  turn  their 
attention  to  the  Portsmouth  and  Roanoke  road,  and  perhaps 
they  are  now  making  the  inquiries  which  sensible  men  always 
make  before  they  embark  in  an  important  speculation. 

As  the  revival  of  the  Portsmouth  Railroad  would  injure,  to 
some  extent,  the  road  through  this  place,  and  be  of  no  benefit 
to  those  who  take  part  in  it;  and  as  I  happen  to  know  a  good 
deal  concerning  its  past  history  and  present  prospects,  I  will 
give  your  readers  some  information  about  it,  which  will,  I  think, 
better  enable  them  to  judge  of  its  real  value  than  any  thing 
they  can  learn  in  Portsmouth  or  North  Carolina.  And,  Mr. 
Editor,  as,  I  frankly  confess,  I  am  interested  in  seeing  that  road 
remain  as  it  is,  and  may  therefore  be  justly  suspected  of  being 
prejudiced  against  it,  I  do  not  intend  to  make  any  statement 
of  importance  without  furnishing  evidence  to  sustain  it. 

In  the  first  place,  I  will  give  a  short  glance  at  the  past  history 
of  the  Portsmouth  road.  It  is  well  known  here,  but  not  so  well 
known  in  Boston,  that  the  Petersburg  railroad  was  the  first  road 
made  to  the  Roanoke,  and  that  the  Portsmouth  railroad  was 
started  in  opposition  to  it.  Opposition  lines  may  do  very  well, 
or  live  in  New  England,  where  there  is  traffic  sufficient  to  sup- 
port them;  but  here  there  is  not,  and  the  consequence  was,  that 
one  of  the  roads  could  not  be  kept  up.  And  that  road  was  the 
Portsmouth  road,  as  might  have  been  expected;  for  the  Peters- 
burg road,  besides  being  on  the  main  line  of  travel,  was  the 
shortest  route  to  market  for  the  produce  of  the  Roanoke.  If 
any  of  your  folks  doubt  this,  a  glance  at  the  map  will  convince 
them  of  the  first,  and  a  trip  to  Richmond  and  Petersburg  of  the 
second. 

But  let  us  see  what  the  trade  was,  that  the  Portsmouth  road 
was   made   to   compete   for.     To   show   this,  I  will  give  the 


amount  of  business  done  by  the  Petersburg  railroad  the  year 
before  the  Portsmouth  railroad  was  completed  to  TVeldon .* 

Statement  of  the  Receipts   and   Expenses  of  the   Petersburg 
Railroad,  for  the  year  ending  January  31,  1838.1 

Receipts. 

Amount  received  from  freight  -         -     $53,068  33 

"  "  "      passengers       -  27,161  95 

"      mail     -         -         -        15,026  41 

Transportation  on  the  Greensville  railroad        8,498  85 

Storage     -------         183  31 


$103,938  85 


Expenses. 

Officers'  salaries $6,500  00 

Expenses  of  depots       ...  -         11,759  15 

Cost  of  running  engines  and  cars  -         -     11,338  71 

"     "   repairs         "           "       "     -  -           8,504  79 

"     "   repairs  of  railroad          -  -         -     39,826  75 

Contingencies       ....  -           2,806  88 


$80,736  28 


I  appeal  to  any  person  in  your  community,  at  all  conversant 
with  railroad  matters,  to  say  if  this  was  business  enough  to  sup- 
port two  roads,  one  sixty  and  the  other  eighty  miles  long?  But 
the  Portsmouth  road  was  finished,  and  I  will  now  show  how  the 
business  was  divided  after  that  road  entered  the  field  to  com- 
pete for  it. 

Statement  of  the  Receipts  and  Expenses  of  Transportation  of 
the  Petersburg  Railroad,  for  the  year  ending  Jan.  31,  1839.$ 

Receipts. 

Freight $68,410  47 

Passengers 38,692  46 

Mail 12,768  10 

Sundries 1,569  48 


Total  receipts            ....       $121,440  51 
Expenses 92,744  06 

*  The  Portsmouth  road  'was  finished  to  Weldon,  in  November,  1837. 
t  Report  of  Board  of  Public  Works  of  Virginia,  for  1S3S,  page  84. 
}  Report  of  Board  of  Public  Works,  for  1839,  p.  66. 
1# 


Statement  of  the  Receipts  and  Expenditures  of  the  Portsmouth 
and  Roanoke  llailroad,  for  the  year  ending  October  31,  1838.* 

Balance  of  money  on  hand    - 

Tolls  (passengers  and  transportation) 

Sundry  articles  sold  and  work  done  in  shop 

Five  per  cent.  State  scrip  sold 

Money  borrowed,      .... 


Disbursements. 

For  improvements,  repairs,  and  interest 
Officers'  salaries,  agents,  depots,  &c. 
Debts  paid  off     ...         - 
Balance  on  hand     -         -         -         - 


Take  another  twelve  months  : 

Receipts  and  Disbursements  of  the  Petersburg  Railroad  Com- 
pany, for  twelve  months,  ending  Sept.  30,  1839.1 

Receipts. 

Cash  on  hand  per  last  Report       -         -  $4,116  66 

Gross  amount  of  transportation          -         -  136,239  72 

Balance  of  State  loan           -         -         -  61,754  00 

Increase  of  debt 12,062  67 


$3,768 

01 

-  51,216 

16 

p   7,678 

96 

90,000 

00 

-  44.15S 

83 

$196,821 

96 

$97,000  78 

14,354 

00 

84,166 

14 

1,301 

04 

$196,821 

96 

114,173  05 


Disbursements. 

Purchase  of  engines  and  cars        -         -  $38,809  80 
Charges  on  transportation,  including  ex- 
penses of  all  kinds,  and  interest         -  104,551  78 
Dividend,  seven  per  cent.         -         -         -  42,385  00 
Cash  on  hand 28,426  47 


!14,173  05 


*  Report  of  Board  of  Public  Works,  for  1838,  p.  90.        f  lb.  for  1839,  p.  72. 


Receipts  and  Disbursements  of  the  Portsmouth  and  Roanoke 

Railroad,  for  the  twelve  months  ending  Sept.  30,  1839.* 

Balance  on  hand  per  last  Report,  -  $1,301  04 
State  of  Virginia,  for  quota  of  additional 

subscription  .....  16,650  00 
For  tolls  from  1st   November,  1838,  to  1st 

October,  1839,            ....  59,140  45 

For  $60,000,  five  per  cent.  State  stock      -  59,421  49 

From  H.  Wilson,  for  stock  sold    -         -  4,000  00 

For  interest  on  stock       ....  382  63 

For  salt  and  other  articles  sold     -         -  359  34 

From  P.  O.  Depart.,  under  mail  contract  4,589  37 

For  money  borrowed        ....  16,000  00 


$161,844  32 


Disbursements. 

For  improvements,  repairs,  and  transporta- 
tion expenses            ....  $47,09271 

For  engines,  coaches,  and  cars          -         -  27,158  54 

"    officers'  salaries     ....  3,672  10 

"    expenses  collecting  tolls    -         -         -  2,897  07 

"    salt  damaged          -         -         -         -  246  82 

"    wood  purchased,  per  steamboats         -  1,908  98 

"    debt  paid  off  at  Farmers'  Bank       -  33,850  00 

"    other  debts  paid  off  -  694  51 

"    amt  of  old  debts  and  interest  paid  off  42,352  62 

Balance  of  money  on  hand      -         -         -  1,970  97 


Total,  .....  $161,844  32 


In  order  to  carry  out  this  comparison,  and  make  the  proof  com- 
plete that  there  was  not  business  enough  to  support  two  roads, 
and  that  the  Petersburg  road  received  the  greatest  portion  of  it, 
I  have  inserted  in  the  Appendix  (A)  a  table,  giving  a  compara- 
tive view  of  the  receipts  and  disbursements  and  financial  condi- 
tion of  the  two  roads,  up  to  the  time  the  Portsmouth  cars  stopped 
running.  This  table  will,  I  think,  convince  the  most  skeptical. 
The  fact  was,  —  and  it  is  well  known  here,  —  that  the  freight 
business  (principally  tobacco  and  cotton)  sought  the  Richmond 

*  Report  of  Board  of  Public  Works,  for  1S39,  p.  85. 


8 


and  Petersburg  markets,  over  the  Petersburg  railroad  ;  and  the 
merchandise,  and  nearly  all  the  local  travel,  was  of  course  con- 
veyed by  the  same  channel.  If  your  folks  will  make  the  proper 
inquiries,  they  will  ascertain  that  when  any  tobacco  happened  to 
be  carried  to  Norfolk  or  Portsmouth,  it  had  to  be  sent  to  Rich- 
mond to  be  sold,  and  the  cotton,  generally,  was  sent  to  Peters- 
burg for  the  same  purpose,  or  bought  on  Petersburg  account. 

In  further  connection  with  the  freight  business,  as  the  trade 
of  the  Roanoke  Navigation  Company  has  doubtless  been  held 
up  to  your  merchants  as  one  of  great  importance,  I  have  added 
to  the  Appendix  (B)  an  extract  from  the  report  of  that  company 
for  1839,  containing  a  detailed  statement  of  all  the  items  carried 
on  their  work  during  that  year.  This  is  the  only  report  in  which 
I  can  find  such  a  statement ;  but  it  is  sufficient  to  show  the  kind 
of  business  done  on  the  canal,  and  also  to  give  some  idea  of 
the  amount  of  it  at  present ;  for,  comparing  the  receipts  from 
tolls  of  last  year*  with  those  of  1839,  they  show  that  the  ton- 
nage had  not  increased  over  twenty  to  twenty -five  per  cent,  in 
the  whole  of  seven  years.f 

This  is  not  a  very  encouraging  prospect,  in  regard  to  the 
business  to  be  derived  from  the  Roanoke  navigation.  The  fact 
is,  that  work  is  of  a  most  imperfect  kind,  and  is  only  adapted  to 
boats  carrying  five  or  six  tons,  and  the  trade  on  it  can  never 
increase  materially  until  the  work  is  improved.  Estimating  the 
amount  of  tonnage  for  last  year  by  the  receipts  from  tolls,  the 
whole  of  it  could  not  have  exceeded  8,000  tons.  How  much  of 
this  would  have  gone  over  the  Portsmouth  road  if  the  cars  had 
been  running?  The  comparison  of  the  receipts  of  the  two 
companies  would  give  a  good  idea  of  it ;  but  the  extract  in  the 
appendix,  showing  the  business  of  the  canal  in  1839,  gives  a 
better.  It  is  stated  there  that  the  amount  of  tolls  received  at 
Weldon,  the  termination  of  the    Portsmouth   road,  was   only 

*  Eeport  of  Board  of  Public  Works  for  1846,  p.  279. 

t  Tolls  in  1S39  -  $8,620  19 

"  1S46       -----    12,926  56 

Deducting  from  the  tolls  of  1846  the  amount  of  increase  in  the  rates  (which  were 
twenty-five  per  cent,  higher  than  in  1839),  it  shows  that  the  increase  in  the  tonnage 
could  not  have  exceeded  what  is  above  stated. 


twenty  per  cent,  of  the  whole  amount,  while  the  remaining 
eighty  per  cent,  was  received  at  Gaston,  the  termination  of  the 
branch  of  the  Petersburg  line.  But  what  was  the  greatest 
amount  of  freight  ever  carried  on  the  Portsmouth  road  ?  The 
most  money  they  ever  received  from  it  was  in  1842,  and  it  only 
paid  them  $28,850,*  from  which  I  make  the  tonnage  less  than 
5,000  tons.  The  next  year  (1843)  the  receipts  from  freight  fell 
off  to  $16,8S2.f 

JNow  let  us  see  what  are  the  prospects  of  the  new  road,  in 
regard  to  the  travel.  The  whole  of  the  travel  to  and  from 
Weldon  is  carried  on  the  Wilmington  and  Weldon  railroad  ; 
and  the  following  extract  from  the  last  report  of  the  company 
owning  that  road,  will  show  how  much  it  and  their  other  busi- 
ness paid  them.t 

Amount  of  Receipts  from  Railroad  for  the  year  ending  October 

1,  1846. 

From  freight $44,756  11 

"      passengers          ....  103,469  60 

"      mail 37,060  94 


$185,286  65 
Expenditures 191,854  49 


Now  nearly  all  the  freight  of  the  Wilmington  road  goes  to 
Wilmington  and  the  mail  to  Petersburg ;  and  if  the  company, 
with  the  whole  of  this  business  added  to  the  travel,  loses 
money  on  a  road  160  miles  long,  is  it  at  all  probable,  that  a  road 
of  half  the  length  could  make  money  out  of  the  passengers 
alone  ?  .  But  would  the  new  road  get  all  the  passengers  ?  If  it 
should,  it  will  do  what  the  old  road  never  did.  During  the 
palmiest  times  of  that  road  it  never  carried  over  half  the  travel ; 
the  Petersburg  road  always  carried  a  large  part  of  it.  It  is  well 
known,  that  the  line  through  the  Petersburg  is  the  shortest, 
safest,  and  most  expeditious,  and  that  it  has  always  carried  the 

*  Eeport  of  Board  of  Public  Works,  for  1842,  page  443.  Note  —  the  average  rate 
of  transportation  from  Weldon  this  year  was  between  86  and  $7  per  ton,  which 
would  make  the  tonnage  4,400  tons. 

f  Eeport  of  Board  of  Public  Works,  for  1S43,  page  92. 

J  Eeport  of  Wilmington  and  Ealeigh  Eailroad  Company,  for  1S46,  page  13. 


10 


great  mail.  These  are  attractions  that  will  always  secure 
travel.  Besides  this,  the  Petersburg  line  leads  through  Wash- 
ington city,  an  important  point  in  the  journey  of  most  persons, 
especially  when  Congress  is  in  session.  There  is  every  proba- 
bility, therefore,  that  the  Petersburg  road  would  continue  to 
enjoy  as  great  a  part  of  this  travel  as  they  did  before.  But 
suppose  the  new  road  should  get  the  larger  portion  of  it  ?  They 
can  only  get  the  through  travel,  and  for  that  they  will  have  to 
compete  with  the  sea-steamers.  This  competition  is  becoming 
every  day  more  serious,  as  a  proof  of  which,  the  Wilmington 
and  Raleigh  Company,  owning  nearly  half  the  inland  line  be- 
tween Charleston  and  New  York,  are  now  endeavoring  to  in- 
duce the  other  companies  to  reduce  their  fare  to  half  price. 
Boston  capitalists  must  not  expect  to  see  the  amount  of  travel 
on  the  southern  railroads  which  they  see  on  their  own  roads,*' 
or  that  a  low  rate  of  fare  will  greatly  increase  it.  We  have  not 
the  population  to  travel.  The  through  travel  —  to  wit,  that 
between  the  north  and  south  —  has  been  almost  stationary  for 
several  years.  The  truth  is,  it  will  never  increase  materially 
until  the  railroads  between  North  and  South  Carolina  are  con- 
nected, and  the  line  is  finished  to  Mobile  or  New  Orleans;  for  it 
is  limited  by  the  necessity  of  carrying  it  a  large  part  of  the  way 
in  stages.  A  good  deal  of  it  also  will  always  be  drawn  off  by 
vessels  at  Savannah  and  Charleston,  as  long  as  a  part  of  the 
route  is  by  sea. 

But  perhaps  the  parties  in  your  city  who  think  favorably  of 
reviving  the  Portsmouth  road,  expect  to  make  advantageous  or 
exclusive  arrangements  with  the  lines  connecting  with  it.  Be- 
fore they  count  too  much  upon  this,  it  would  be  well  for  them 
to  read  and  reflect  upon  the  act  incorporating  the  road  they  are 
asked  to  purchase.     Section  sixth  of  this  act  says  : 

"  That  it  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  Board  of  Public  Works  of 
Virginia,  and  they  are  hereby  required,  so  to  regulate,  from  time 

*  The  travel  on  the  Wilmington  road,  as  shown  above,  paid  $103,469.  Their 
travel  is  nearly  all  through,  and  at  their  fare  ($6  per  passenger)  this  would  give  only 
17,200  passengers.     The  through  travel  was  actually  less  than  15,000  passengers. 


11 


to  time,  the  fare  for  passengers  on  each  railroad  between  Wel- 
don  and  Portsmouth,  and  between  Weldon  and  Petersburg,  as 
to  prevent  an  injurious  competition,  by  reducing  the  fare  on  or 
by  either  of  the  said  roads,  either  by  a  direct  levying  of  such 
fare,  or  by  any  combination  or  arrangement  with  any  other  rail- 
road or  stage  line,  or  with  any  line  of  steamboats  on  tbe  Chesa- 
peake Bay,  for  such  reduction  of  fare ;  and  in  reference  to  the 
fact  of  such  combination,  or  any  injurious  reduction  of  fare  as 
aforesaid,  the  Board  of  Public  "Works  shall  be  the  sole  judge  ; 
and  their  order  shall  be  obligatory  on  either  or  both  of  the  said 
companies.  Provided,  The  stockholders  of  the  Petersburg  Rail- 
road Company,  in  general  meeting,  agree  to  this  section." 

Now  let  us  see  what  interest  the  Board  of  Public  Works  has 
in  seeing  this  act  complied  with,  in  case  the  owners  of  the  new 
road  should  endeavor  to  combine  with  the  other  lines,  to  the 
injury  of  the  Petersburg  road,  or  rather  to  the  injury  of  all  the 
roads  on  the  Petersburg  line. 

That  Board  now  owns  in  stock : 

In  the  Petersburg  Railroad     -  $323,500 

Bonds  of          do. 16,000 

Stock  in  the  Richmond  and  Petersburg  Railroad,  385,000 

Bonds  of  do. 11,136 

Stock  in  the  Richmond  and  Fredericksburg  Rail- 
road Company, -  275,200 

Bonds  of  do. S2,560 


$1,093,396 


This  investment  is  now  paying  them  annually,  in  dividends 
and  interest,  $60,040.  Is  there  a  man  in  Boston  who  thinks 
that  the  Board  of  Public  Works  would  submit  to  any  "  combina- 
tion or  arrangement,"  that  would  jeopardize  this  great  inter- 
est, and  particularly  among  works  owned  out  of  the  State,  and 
by  one  of  which  the  State  has  already  lost  about  half  a  million  ? 
I  think  this  is  a  matter  well  worthy  of  the  consideration  of  your 
capitalists,  if  any  of  them  have  been  led  to  believe  that  money 
might  be  made  in  this  way  out  of  the  purchase  of  the  Ports- 


12 


mouth  road.  And  while  they  are  considering  it,  I  would  advise 
them  to  look  into  all  the  legislation  of  the  State  on  the  subject 
of  reviving  that  road.  For  although  it  was  an  easy  matter  to 
induce  the  Legislature  to  pass  an  act  to  give  away  a  valueless 
railroad,  —  yet,  if  that  railroad  should  ever  be  the  cause  of  dimin- 
ishing the  revenue  of  the  State  from  those  works  in  which  she 
has  such  a  large  interest,  and  thereby  making  it  necessary  for 
the  Legislature  to  resort  to  additional  taxation,  they  would  be 
very  apt  to  review  the  whole  subject  again.  I  invite  the  atten- 
tion of  your  capitalists  particularly  to  the  fact  that  the  act  incor- 
porating the  new  company  subjects  it  "  in  all  respects  and  in 
every  thing  to  all  the  duties,  regulations,  and  penalties  required, 
prescribed  and  enjoined  by  any  law  or  laws  now  in  force  re- 
specting the  present  company,  and  subject  to  the  provisions  of 
the  act  of  the  General  Assembly,  entitled  '  An  act  prescribing 
certain  general  regulations  for  the  incorporation  of  Railroad 
Companies,'  passed  March  11,  1837." 

One  provision  of  this  act  is,  "  that  any  part  of  any  charter  or 
act  of  incorporation  granted  agreeably  to  the  provisions  of  this 
act,  shall  be  subject  to  be  altered,  amended,  or  modified  by  any 
future  Legislature,  as  to  them  shall  seem  proper."  * 

But  if  the  Board  of  Public  Works  and  the  Legislature  will 
not  interfere  to  protect  their  own  companies  from  the  competi- 
tion of  companies  out  of  the  State,  —  as  your  capitalists  may  be 
led  to  believe  they  will  not,  on  the  ground  that  they  never  inter- 
fered between  the  Petersburg  and  Portsmouth  Companies,  dur- 
ing the  height  of  their  competition,  —  and  leave  them  to  protect 
themselves,  let  us  see  how  this  was  done,  and  examine  into 
their  ability  to  do  so  again.  The  following  extracts  from  the 
reports  of  the  Portsmouth  Company  will  give  a  specimen  of  the 
kind  of  competition  the  new  company  may  have  to  expect,  if 
the  Legislature  should  suffer  the  companies  to  "fight  it  out." 
I  quote  from  the  reports  of  the  old  company,  in  order  to  show 
how  sensibly  they  felt  the  competition  they  had  provoked. 

*  Acts  of  the  General  Assembly  for  1S37,  p.  112. 


13 


Extract  from  the  Report  of  the  Portsmouth  and  'Roanoke  Rail- 
road Company,  in  Report  of  Board  of  Public  Works,  for 
1839,  page  77. 

"  In  the  second  place,  an  unfortunate  collision  arose  between 
our  company  and  the  companies  interested  in  the  route  from 
Baltimore,  through  Washington,  Richmond,  and  Petersburg,  to 
Weldon,  in  consequence  of  which  the  fare  through  from  the 
one  point  to  the  other  was  reduced  to  the  extremely  low  rate 
of  $5,  making  a  corresponding  reduction  on  our  part  absolutely 
necessary.  This  misunderstanding  having  been  adjusted  be- 
tween the  parties,  it  is  not  deemed  to  be  a  matter  of  sufficient 
importance  to  detail  the  circumstances  which  led  to  it,  even  if 
certainly  known." 


Extract  from  Report    of  Portsmouth    and    Roanoke    Railroad 
Company,  in  the  Report  of  Board  of  Public  Works,  for  1840, 
page  371. 

"  At  your  special  meeting,  on  the  third  Tuesday  in  August 
last,  the  committee  appointed  by  you  to  negotiate  with  the 
Petersburg  Railroad  Company,  for  the  sale  of  one  half  of  the 
bridge  and  one  half  of  the  road  between  Garysburg  and  Wel- 
don, made  its  report,  accompanied  by  the  following  preamble 
and  resolution,  which  you  adopted  : 

" '  Wliereas  this  company,  in  good  faith,  have  offered  to  the 
Petersburg  Railroad  Company  to  sell  them  one  half  the  bridge 
across  the  Roanoke,  and  one  half  the  road  south  of  Gary's,  at 
a  sum  very  considerably  less  than  one  half  the  cost  of  said 
bridge  and  road,  thereby  giving  to  the  said  company  an  oppor- 
tunity of  placing  itself  upon  a  fair  equality  with  this  company 
at  Weldon,  which  the  Petersburg  Company  have  declined  to 
accept ;  and  whereas  this  company  and  its  agents  have  been 
much  annoyed  by  the  turbulent  and  insulting  conduct  of  the 
2 


14 


Petersburg  agents,  not  only  at  Weldon,  upon  the  undivided 
grounds  belonging  to  the  Wilmington  and  Raleigh  Railroad 
Company  and  this  company,  but  even  in  our  trains  passing 
from  Weldon  to  Gary's,  over  our  bridge  and  road,  a  course 
of  conduct  which  this  company  cannot  longer  submit  to  ;  and 
whereas  this  company  is  still  willing  to  accommodate  the  trav- 
elling public  between  Garysburgand  Weldon,  provided  it  can  be 
done  without  subjecting  it  to  the  wrongs  and  insults  heretofore 
received  from  the  agents  of  the  Petersburg  Company:  There- 
fore, Resolved,  That  if  the  Petersburg  Company  will  withdraw 
their  agents  from  Weldon,  that  this  company  will  continue  to 
put  down  and  take  up  passengers  at  Garysburg,  on  the  arrival 
of  our  trains  at  that  place,  going  and  returning  from  Weldon.' 

"As  to  the  attempts  now  made  the  second  time  to  break 
down  your  road,  by  the  suicidal  policy  of  carrying  passengers 
through  the  State  for  a  fraction  of  a  fair  price,  and  for  a  frac- 
tion of  what  citizens  of  the  State  living  on  the  line  of  the  roads 
have  to  pay,  your  Board  believe  it  will  be  as  abortive  as  the 
first  attempt.  But  the  failure  to  accomplish  the  end  in  nowise 
justifies  the  rash  and  desperate  means  used.  How  long  this 
state  of  things  is  to  exist,  the  Board  cannot  say  decisively ;  but 
it  may  hazard  the  opinion,  that,  as  the  State  of  Virginia  owns 
two-fifths  of  the  stock  in  each  of  these  roads,  its  next  legisla- 
ture will  interpose  its  authority,  and  put  an  end  to  this  warring 
of  interests." 


Extract  from  the  Report  of  the  Portsmouth  Company,  in  Report 
of  Board  of  Public  Works,  for  XSM^age  129. 

"  This  deficiency  is  mainly  attributable  to  the  desperate 
means  used  by  the  several  railroad  companies,  combined  along 
the  route  between  the  Roanoke  and  Potomac  rivers,  to  break 
down  your  road  at  all  hazards,  not  by  a  fair  and  praiseworthy 
competition,  such  as  would  redound  to  the  credit  of  those  con- 


15 


cerned,  and  be  beneficial  to  the  citizens  of  this  State,  but  by 
a  ruinous  system  of  reduced  rates,  suicidal  to  the  interests  of 
stockholders,  disreputable  to  the  parties  concerned,  and  only 
advantageous  to  those  who  avail  themselves  of  these  roads  to 
pass  rapidly  through  the  State.  For  instance,  a  traveller  from 
the  south  takes  a  ticket  at  the  Roanoke  for  Baltimore,  for 
which  he  pays  only  $5  (and  the  fare  has  been  as  low  as  $2,50) ; 
he  travels  on  to  Petersburg,  sixty  miles  ;  and  there  a  citizen  of 
that  place  gets  up  for  Baltimore,  paying  $11,  if  he  has  not  been 
wise  enough  to  have,  the  day  before,  sent  out  to  the  Roanoke, 
and  procured  a  ticket  at  $5. 

"  Proceeding  onward  to  Richmond,  twenty  two  miles  farther, 
and  there  gets  up  a  citizen  of  that  place  for  Baltimore,  paying 
$10.  Continuing  onward  to  Fredericksburg,  seventy  miles 
further,  and  there  gets  up  a  citizen  of  that  place  also  for  Balti- 
more, paying  $G  ;  so  that  a  stranger  passes  through  the  State, 
over  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles  of  railroads  (which  cost  about 
$3,000,000),  free;  while  Ihe  citizen,  who  may  be  an  individual 
stockholder,  and  who  has  paid  his  proportion  of  the  State  sub- 
scription, two-fifths,  supports  the  road ;  and  this  wretched  policy 
is  to  break  down  another  road  in  which  the  State  is  two-fifths 
stockholder,  and  in  which  a  large  number  of  her  citizens  are 
deeply  interested.  It  will  be  remembered,  that  at  the  close  of 
the  last  annual  report,  when  referring  to  this  subject,  your  board 
says,  '  How  long  this  state  of  things  is  to  exist,  the  Board  can- 
not say  decisively ;  but  it  may  hazard  the  opinion,  that,  as  the 
State  of  Virginia  owns  two-fifths  of  the  stock  in  each  of  these 
roads,  its  next  legislature  will  interpose  its  authority,  and  put  an 
end  to  this  warring  of  its  interests.' 

"  "Unfortunately,  this  reasonable  expectation  of  the  Board  has 
not  been  realized,  although  a  full  and  forcible  exposition  was 
made  to  that  legislature  by  the  delegates  from  Norfolk  borough 
and  county,  and  the  inevitable  results  which  would  follow  such 
conduct,  demonstrated  ;  yet  no  action  was  had  on  the  ground,  it 
is  believed,  that  any  would  infringe  upon  chartered  rights ;  and 
hence  has  been  continued  for  the  third  summer,  in  succession, 


16 


a  policy,  which,  if  unchecked,  must  certainly  lead  to  the  de- 
struction of  one  or  all  of  these  State  improvements. 

"  Indeed,  already  are  they  so  crippled,  that  at  each  returning 
session  of  the  legislature  they  are  found  humble  supplicants  for 
further  pecuniary  aid.  To  show  to  what  extent  the  determina- 
tion to  ruin  your  road  has  gone,  it  is  only  to  be  mentioned,  that, 
when  a  petition  from  one  of  the  combined  companies  was 
before  the  legislature,  and  pending  the  progress  of  the  bill 
granting  the  relief  prayed  for,  efforts  were  made  by  those  rep- 
resenting your  interest,  to  have  a  minimum  rate  per  mile  estab- 
lished, as  well  as  a  maximum  rate,  thus  to  prevent  a  recurrence 
to  reduce  fare  ;  but  this  was  promptly  and  strenuously  objected 
to  by  those  having  in  charge  that  bill,  for  reasons  too  obvious 
to  be  doubted,  and  the  bill  itself  was  finally  rejected  by  the 
House. 

"  Your  Board,  however,  still  cherishes  the  hope,  that  the  legis- 
lature will,  early  in  its  next  session,  take  some  decisive  step 
to  arrest  this  wantonness  of  expenditure  of  both  public  and 
private  resources  —  that  it  will  feel  it  to  be  its  duty  to  discoun- 
tenance a  course  of  conduct  which  not  only  jeopardizes  the  one 
million  of  stock  owned  by  the  State,  and  the  heavy  sums  which 
she  has  loaned  to  these  works,  but  also  perils  the  large  sums 
invested  by  her  citizens  for  the  construction  and  maintenance 
of  these  works.  Another  cause  which  has  operated  during  the 
past  summer  considerably  to  lessen  their  receipts  from  travel,  is 
the  desire  that  travellers  have  manifested  to  go  through  Wash- 
ington city  during  the  extra  session  of  Congress ;  this  was  then 
sensibly  felt;  but  since  the  adjournment  of  that  body,  the 
preference  for  your  route  is  evidently  increasing,  as  may  be  seen 
by  referring  to  the  increased  receipts  for  the  month  of  Sep- 
tember. 

"  The  same  causes,  however,  have  not  operated  upon  and 
kept  down  the  revenue  arising  from  freight.  The  falling-ofTin 
this  source  is  mostly  the  consequence  of  the  continued  de- 
pressed state  of  the  country  in  all  its  commercial  relations ;  and 
so  long  as  this  be  the  case,  so  long  will  your  interests  be  injuri- 
ously affected. 


17 


But  there  is  another  cause  for  this  deficiency  of  freight,  which 
need  not  be  disguised.  It  is  the  peculiar  energy  which  so  dis- 
tinguishes those  conducting  the  commercial  operations  of  both 
Richmond  and  Petersburg,  and  which  directs  the  trade  from 
Norfolk  and  Portsmouth  to  those  places.  This  can  no  way 
be  made  clearer  to  you,  than  to  state  the  fact,  that  most  of  the 
heavy  productions  of  the  Roanoke  valley  and  its  banks  are 
invited  over  your  road  at  much  less  charge  than  the  same  goes 
to  Petersburg ;  and  on  no  article  is  more  charged  over  your  road, 
eighty  miles  long,  than  is  charged  for  the  same  to  Petersburg, 
sixty  miles  ;  and  yet,  although  most  of  them  ultimately  pass  out 
the  capes  of  Virginia,  within  one  hour's  sail  of  Norfolk  harbor, 
they  first  go  to  Petersburg  or  Richmond  for  a  market." 


Extract  from  Report  of  Portsmouth  and  Roanoke  Railroad  Com- 
pany, in  Report  of  Board  of  Public  Works,  for  1844,  page 
342. 

"  The  small  increase  in  the  receipts  during  the  past  year  is 
made  up  entirely  on  the  travel,  which  exceeds  that  of  the 
present  year,  S4.226.18,  and  is  occasioned  by  the  falling-off  of 
the  transportation,  caused  by  the  great  inequality  and  discrimina- 
tion in  freight  made  by  the  Petersburg  Railroad  Company  on 
commodities  which  seek  a  market  and  more  convenient  outlet 
to  foreign  ports  at  Norfolk  and  Portsmouth.  This  policy,  so 
ruinous  to  the  interests  of  both  companies,  has  been  in  vain 
remonstrated  against  by  the  Board,  as  also  the  instability  of  the 
charge  upon  passengers. 

"  It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  legislature,  which  has  hitherto 
refrained  from  interposing  its  authority,  will  find  it  within  its 
constitutional  power  to  prescribe  some  restrictions  to  the  bound- 
less and  destructive  rivalry  between  two  works  in  which  the 
Commonwealth  has  so  deep  an  interest." 


18 


These  extracts,  and  one  in  the  Appendix  (C),from  the  report 
of  the  Board  of  Public  Works,  show  that  the  conflict  between 
the  companies  was  a  serious  one.  Now,  Mr.  Editor,  this  con- 
flict was  thrust  upon  the  Petersburg  Company.  They  never 
sought  it :  on  the  contrary,  they  earnestly  deprecated  it.  When 
the  legislature  of  Virginia  was  first  asked  to  incorporate  this 
Portsmouth  road,  they  were  warned  that  there  was  not  business 
enough  to  support  two  works,  and  that  the  instinct  of  self- 
preservation  would  alone  engender  a  conflict  that  would  end 
in  the  destruction  of  one  or  the  other. 

Whether  the  legislature,  having  witnessed  such  a  termination 
of  this  conflict,  will  suffer  it  to  be  carried  on  in  the  same  way 
again,  remains  to  be  seen.  I  believe  they  will  not ;  but  if  they 
do,  the  Petersburg  Company  is  now  out  of  debt,  and  has  a  good 
road,  and  their  ability  to  contend  with  any  opposition  is  tenfold 
greater  than  it  ever  was.  Table  A  shows  this  well  enough, 
without  further  comment. 

I  take  it  for  granted,  that,  if  any  of  your  capitalists  are  dis- 
posed to  take  stock  in  the  Portsmouth  road,  their  object  is 
dividends ;  and  this  perhaps  was  the  great  inducement  held  out 
to  them  by  those  interested  in  having  that  road  revived.  But 
the  Portsmouth  people  did  not  always  promise  dividends  to  those 
they  wished  to  interest  in  sustaining  the  old  road.  Let  us  see 
what  they  said  on  this  subject  at  one  time. 


Extract  from  Report  of  Portsmouth  and  Roanoke  Railroad  Com' 
pany,  in  Report  of  Board  of  Public  Works,  for  1844,  page 
380. 

"  The  policy  of  Virginia,  whatever  else  may  be  said  of  our 
good  old  commonwealth,  has  been  wise  and  liberal  in  her  sys- 
tem of  internal  improvement ;  nor  can  we  believe,  that,  having 
contributed  to  build  up  this  important  '  State  work '  upon  the 
broad  and  enlightened  principles  of  national  wealth,  she  can 


19 


now  be  influenced  to  destroy  it  by  the  cold  and  selfish  princi- 
ple of  '  dividend  paying,'  by  whomsoever  and  under  whatever 
imposing  authority  revived  and  introduced  to  operate  to  its 
prejudice  in  favor  of  '  the  State  companies '  by  Richmond, 
some  of  which  never  have,  and  probably  will  not  sooner  add 
to  the  coffers  of  the  State  than  will  yours.  Higher  aims  and 
nobler  objects  animated  the  advocates  of  this  great  work.  Its 
tendency  to  increase  the  wealth  of  the  State,  to  stimulate  indus- 
try, and  to  encourage  moral  improvement,  were  the  arguments 
successfully  urged  by  them  to  combat  these  narrow  views. 
Under  the  influence  of  these  considerations  (which  the  sta- 
tistics of  the  State  will  show  has  to  a  great  extent  been  real- 
ized), the  corner-stone  was  laid,  and,  with  the  liberal  aid  of  the 
State,  the  work  erected  ;  and  shall  it  be  pulled  down  because  it 
is  only  one  half  the  length  of  the  '  route  by  way  of  Richmond 
and  Washington  city,'  and  because  it  does  not  pay  a  dividend  ? 
How  many  works  in  the  State  are  there  that  pay  dividends  ? 
If  the  work  of  destruction  is  to  commence,  why  not  strike  the 
first  blow  at  some  of  the  '  State  companies,'  on  the  route  pass- 
ing through  Richmond  ?     Do  they  pay  dividends  ? 

"  If,  according  to  their  own  reasoning,  we  were  to  invert  the 
case,  and  that  line  should  be  broken  up,  would  not  '  the  through 
travel  be  engrossed  by  the  route  by'  the  Portsmouth  and  Ro- 
anoke railroad,  and  would  it  not  '  soon  be  enabled  to  make  some 
remuneration  to  the  treasury  in  dividends  ?  No,  we  cannot 
believe  that  our  '  good  old  mother,'  with  any  such  miserly  feel- 
ings, will  exact  of  us  cent  per  centum ;  that  she  will  stand  by 
with  folded  arms,  and  see  us  struggling  and  tugging  with  our 
shoulders  at  the  wheel,  and  not  lend  us  a  helping  hand.  All  we 
ask  is  legislative  aid,  and  this  we  feel  confident  she  will  not  ' 
deny  us." 

Mr.  Editor,  if  your  capitalists  are  so  patriotic  as  to  spend  their 
money  on  the  Portsmouth  road,  without  looking  for  any  other 
return  than  is  indicated  by  this  extract,  I,  for  one,  although  I 
may  suffer  by  it,  have  nothing  to  say  against  it.     But  if,  like 


20 


myself,  they  are  influenced  by  this  same  '  cold  and  selfish  prin- 
ciple of  dividend  paying,  —  which,  bad  as  it  is,  I  have  no  doubt 
did  more  to  cover  your  State  with  railroads  than  all  the  patri- 
otism in  it,  and  is  now  sending  your  capitalists  out  of  it  to  seek 
investments  elsewhere,  —  if,  I  say,  in  plain  English,  they  want 
to  make  money,  let  them  come  down  here  and  purchase  the 
Raleigh  and  Gaston  railroad,  and  extend  it  to  join  the  South 
Carolina  road,  or  assist  the  "Wilmington  and  Manchester  Com- 
pany to  construct  their  road,  and  they  will  certainly  do  it. 

But  if  this  is  too  great  an  undertaking,  and  they  wish  to  real- 
ize returns  at  once,  stock  can  be  purchased  below,  in  both  the 
Richmond,  and  Fredericksburg,  and  Petersburg  railroads  ;  and 
these  companies  are  each  paying  seven  per  cent,  per  annum, 
and  likely  to  pay  more.  But,  apart  from  these  considerations,  I 
really  think  it  would  be  much  more  sensible  and  business-like 
to  take  an  interest  in  the  improvements  which  were  successful, 
than  in  the  one  which  was  unable  to  compete  with  them. 

A   VIRGINIAN. 

N.  B.  Any  gentleman  wishing  to  see  the  documents  above 
referred  to,  is  informed  that  they  can  be  found  at  the  office  of 
William  Brigham,  Esq.,  No.  35  Court  Street. 


21 


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22 


(B.) 

Account  of  Tolls  received  on  produce,  goods,  wares,  and  merchandise,  at 
Weldon,  through  the  Roanoke  Canal,  from  1st  November,  1838,  to  the 
31st  October,  1839,  inclusive. 


11,517 

barrels  flour, 

467,750 

pounds  of  manufactured  tobacco, 

711 

sacks  salt, 

10,173 
1,917 

44 

pounds  coffee, 

gallons  domestic  spirits, 

hogsheads  sugar, 

14 

hogsheads  molasses, 

11 

hogsheads  stems, 

12 

barrels  sugar, 

966 

32,716 

pounds  loaf  sugar, 
goods  at  5s.  per  100, 

11  %  tons  gypsum, 
2,059     bushels  corn, 

45 
900 
137 

gallons  foreign  spirits, 
pounds  nails, 
hogsheads  tobacco, 

10,334 
463 

pounds  dry  goods, 
gallons  wine, 

215^  barrels  fish, 
27     barrels  tar, 

109 

casks  lime, 

9 

boxes  tallow  candles, 

4,553 
Producing  in 

pounds  bacon, 
tolls 

Deduct  for  month  of  October, 

$1,860  26 
14  67 


$,1845  59 
Signed,  T.  T.  Wyatt, 

Collector. 


Aggregate  of  Tariff  collected  at  Gaston  during  the  year  ending  31st  Octo- 
ber, 1839,  on  produce,  goods,  wares,  and  merchandise : 

3,958     hogsheads  tobacco, 
483  "        stems, 

709,459     pounds  of  manufactured  tobacco, 

6,918)^  barrels  flour, 
340,292  "goods  at  5  c.  per  100, 
400,863         "     at  10c.  per  100, 
5,593     sacks  salt, 
670     casks  lime, 
65,200     pounds  nails, 


23 


210 

gallons  vinegar, 

l^T^TT  tons  castings, 

15,517 y,  domestic  spirits, 

2,960^" 

3  bushels  wheat. 

338/ 

"        corn, 

255 

fish, 

50 

casks  cheese, 

756 

gallons  oil, 

22,165 

pounds  bacon, 

26 

boxes  sperm  candles, 

162 

"     tallow  candles, 

1,510 

foreign  spirits, 

1,930 

gallons  wine, 

200)<  hogsheads  sugar, 

227 

bushels  flaxseed, 

78> 

2  hogsheads  molasses, 

32T7(jV  tons  iron, 

149 

gallons  spirits  turpentine, 

16 

barrels  tar, 

1 7;t£  tons  plaster, 

4,866 

goods  at  8c, 

23 

diameter  mill  stones, 

5 

barrels  cider, 

9,000 

pounds  grindstones, 

9 

boxes  soap, 

269 

gallons  oil, 

5 

bales  cotton, 

372 

pounds  beeswax, 

2 

tons  pig  iron, 

\%    "    copper, 

5 

barrels  ale, 

1 

cask  porter, 

2 

barrels  molasses, 

Producing  in 

tolls       - 

Deduct  for  month  of  October, 

86,797  59 
22  99 


$6,774  60 
Signed,  Saml.  W.  Pugh, 

Agent  for  the  Roanoke  Navigation  Company, 

at  Gaston,  N.  C 


Extract  from  Report  of  Board  of  Public  Works,  for  1843,  page  10 

"  It  appears  evident,  on  an  investigation  of  the  subject  of  the 
differences  heretofore  noticed  between  the  Petersburg  and 
the  Portsmouth  and  Roanoke  Companies,  that  nothing  less 
than  the  acquisition  of  a  monopoly  of  the  whole  transportation 
from  the  Roanoke  country,  and  of  the  through  travel  between 


24 


Weldon  and  Baltimore,  is  aimed  at  by  each  company.  Indeed 
it  is  perfectly  natural  that  this  disposition  should  exist  on  their 
parts ;  for  it  seems  almost  beyond  a  doubt  that  all  the  revenue 
which  has  heretofore  been  derived  from  those  sources  of  profit, 
has  not  reached  an  amount  more  than  sufficient  for  the  legitimate 
and  proper  wants  and  purposes  of  either  one  of  the  companies. 
It  is,  therefore,  upon  the  principle  of  self-preservation,  that  the 
contest  for  ultimate  success  in  the  attainment  of  their  mutual 
object  will  be  continued  under  every  disadvantage,  until  it  is 
arrested  by  the  absence  of  means  to  keep  it  alive,  as  it  regards 
one  or  the  other  of  the  parties,  or  by  the  interference  of  a  com- 
petent power. 

Such  a  state  of  things  ought  not,  however,  to  excite  great 
surprise,  or  to  visit  unlimited  censure  upon  the  parties.  The 
great  error  (if  error  it  was)  must  be  attributed  to  the  policy 
which  sanctioned  the  establishment  of  two  improvements  of 
such  magnitude,  to  contend  at  the  same  point  for  a  trade  which 
has  proven  itself,  so  far,  to  be  inadequate  to  the  purposes  of 
both.  It  is  to  be  feared,  however,  that  the  exertions  of  the 
Portsmouth  Company  are  nearly  paralyzed  by  the  combined 
operation  of  several  causes,  the  chief  of  which  are  the  want  of 
funds,  the  destruction  of  credit,  the  diminution  of  income,  and  a 
loss  of  a  large  portion  of  their  road. 

Opposition  on  their  part,  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose,  must 
soon  cease,  unless  some  powerful  expedient,  such,  for  instance, 
as  a  change  of  proprietors,  is  promptly  resorted  to,  to  keep  it  up  ; 
and  the  probable  issue  of  the  existing  state  of  things  will  be  the 
total  sacrifice  of  the  capital  invested  in  that  work  by  the  present 
individual  proprietors  and  the  State,  and  heavy  losses  to  the 
private  creditors  of  the  company. 

The  prospect  of  the  Petersburg  road,  on  the  other  hand,  are 
apparently  more  encouraging.  Though  involved  in  a  heavy 
debt,  rather  exceeding  that  of  the  Portsmouth  Company,  they 
have,  nevertheless,  gained  the  ascendancy  in  the  transportation 
of  the  produce  of  the  Roanoke  country,  which  yields  them  a 
large  gross  income.     Their  road  is  throughout  laid  with  heavy 


25 


rails,  and  is  in  good  order  ;  andconsequently,while  their  expenses 
have  already  been,  and  will  still  be,  essentially  reduced,  their 
trade  and  travel  will  be  better  provided  for  and  accommodated. 
Under  all  circumstances,  they  may  entertain  a  reasonable  expect- 
ation of  ultimately  succeeding  in  their  enterprise  in  despite  of 
ail  opposition. 

But  the  operations  of  the  two  companies  which  are  the  sub- 
ject of  the  foregoing  remarks, 'have  an  important  bearing  in 
another  point  of  view.  It  is  known  to  the  legislature  that  those 
companies  form  parts  of  two  opposing  lines,  for  the  great  current 
of  through  travelling,  or  of  travellers  passing  the  whole  distance 
between  Weldon  in  North  Carolina,  and  Baltimore.  The  Ports- 
mouth and  Roanoke  Railroad,  seventy-nine  miles  in  length,  is 
connected  with  a  steamboat  line  on  the  Chesapeake  Bay,  be- 
tween Portsmouth  and  Baltimore,  together  forming  what  is 
called  the  "  Bay  route."  The  Petersburg,  Richmond,  and 
Petersburg,  and  the  Richmond,  Fredericksburg,  and  Potomac 
railroads,  extending  a  distance  of  one  hundred  and  sixty-one 
miles,  from  Weldon  to  Acquia  creek,  on  the  Potomac  river  in 
this  State,  form  part  of  the  iuland  line,  by  way  of  Richmond  and 
Washington  ;  consequently  a  traveller  on  the  Portsmouth  road 
is  transported  only  one  half  the  distance  on  that  road  within  the 
State,  that  he  would  travel  if  the  other  route  was  taken.  Hence 
too,  it  follows,  that  if  the  Portsmouth  and  Roanoke  road  should 
get  the  whole  of  this  travel,  the  profit  which  would  be  brought 
into  and  remain  in  the  State,  would,  at  the  regular  and  fair  rates, 
be  equal  to  one  half  only  of  what  would  be  retained  if  the  other 
route  received  it ;  or,  in  other  words,  double  the  profit  would 
remain  in  the  State,  should  the  whole  travel  take  the  Petersburg 
road,  compared  to  what  would  remain  if  the  Portsmouth  road 
should  take  it.  In  the  Portsmouth  road  the  Commonwealth  has 
embarked  the  sum  of  $432,850,  for  subscriptions  to  capital  stock 
and  loan,  and  in  the  other  three  roads  $984,200,  making  a  total 
investment  of  $1,417,150.  Upon  this  large  pecuniary  interest 
neither  dividends  nor  interest  are  at  this  time  paid.  But  there 
can  scarcely  be  a  doubt,  that,  if  the  through  travel  was  engrossed 
by  the  route  by  Richmond  and  Washington  City,  the  State 
companies  on  that  line  would  soon  be  enabled  to  make  some 
remuneration  to  the  treasury,  in  dividends." 
3 


2r 

«5 


